Sep. 22, 2012

Asheville entrepreneurs Kara and Tyler Errickson created a line of organic skincare products. / Bill Sanders/wsanders@citizen-times.com

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IF YOU GO

• The N.C. Entrepreneur Summit will be Monday-Tuesday at U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Asheville. Registration starts at noon and is still open to the public. Tickets are $200 for general attendees and $95 for students with valid ID. • For an agenda and list of speakers, go to www.ncentresummit.org. For information, call (919) 715-7272 or email webmaster@ncentresummit.org.

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ASHEVILLE — Eager to explore “bootstrapping” their own businesses, entrepreneurs from across the state will gather at U.S. Cellular Center on Monday and Tuesday for the 2012 N.C. Entrepreneur Summit.

This summit, which has been held every two years since its start in 2006, makes its first stop in the Western North Carolina mountains, drawing 250-300 economic developers, entrepreneurs and investors.

“Events like this are exactly how I got started,” said Kara Errickson, co-founder of Cocochi, which produces organic personal care products. “In Asheville, there is a wonderful network of people that support entrepreneurs and start-up businesses.”

This year’s theme is “Creating a Scene,” fitting for the Asheville area, explained Pam Lewis, director of entrepreneurship for the Economic Development Coalition of Asheville-Buncombe County.

Culture, capital and connections are key to encouraging entrepreneurs to set up shop in particular communities, Lewis said.

“Entrepreneurs are certainly looking for certain scenes and the interconnectedness of community,” she said. “People are looking for places to live and do business based on their quality of life.”

Individual businesses don’t succeed or fail on their own, but successful entrepreneurs look for networking opportunities to make connections, Lewis said.

Asheville has several “scenes” or sectors that are growing — from independent music to the “foodtopia” of area restaurants and microbreweries, and from a booming outdoor manufacturing sector to natural biotech companies building on the rich biodiversity of WNC medicinal plants.

Jessica Tomisan, of Echo Mountain Studios in downtown Asheville, will moderate a panel on the music business, the growing infrastructure of producers and other support behind recording artists.

Rosetta Star, of Rosetta’s Kitchen, joins a panel on how to challenge the status quo, while Oscar Wong, of Highland Brewing Co., will be on a panel dealing with Asheville’s growing brew scene.

“Bootstrapping Botanicals” will feature Errickson, who developed the organic personal care product, Skinfare, along with Bent Creek Institute researchers, who are exploring economic possibilities of medicinal herbs.

The summit opens at noon Monday with a networking and trade show “Navigating the Capital Scene,” featuring more than 20 public and private capital providers offering a broad range of loans, investments and other forms of financial support for small business.